Did Neanderthals’ faces help them cope with the Ice Age?

Though still technically human and featuring very human-like characteristics, they were shorter, more robust, and physically stronger. But they also featured distinctive faces, with heavy brows, weak chins, a large, forward-projecting face, and a wide nose. Some of these characteristics, such as the brow and chin, were likely acquired from their ancestors, but the other features are so distinctive that paleontologists figure they must’ve evolved for a special reason.

New research published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B suggests this is very much the case, and that Neanderthals acquired a facial structure that made life during the Ice Age more bearable. More.